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Obama’s Last Hurrah

The burden of the US presidency should be apparent to anyone who’s noticed how Barack Obama's hair has turned almost entirely grey since 2008. And now, as Obama prepares to leave office, his high approval rating stands as a powerful rebuke to the Republicans, who have tried to block him at every turn for the last eight years.

WASHINGTON, DC – Barack Obama was just beginning to enjoy himself. He’d been itching to throw himself into the 2016 presidential race and do what he could to ensure that Donald Trump wouldn’t succeed him as President of the United States. It was evident throughout the campaign that he backed his former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, but he had to wait to declare his support openly until it was certain that Senator Bernie Sanders couldn’t beat her at the convention.

His entry into the campaign came at a time when 56% of Americans approve of his performance – the highest level in a long time. In 2014, his approval rating dipped to a low of 40%, owing to public discontent with the economy and the Islamic State’s gains in Iraq and Syria. Democrats running for re-election that year deliberately avoided joint appearances with him; now, they clamor for his attendance at their campaign events.

The first scheduled campaign appearance of Obama and Clinton together was postponed because of the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando. It was rescheduled for July 5, the day, it turned out, that James Comey, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, unexpectedly held a morning press conference on the FBI’s investigation into Clinton’s handling of State Department emails on her personal server. While Clinton had been “extremely careless” in handling classified material, Comey said, there wasn’t enough evidence of criminal intent to indict her.

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Barack Obama has demonstrated an intellectual gravitas that was absent from his immediate predecessor. It is an unfortunate reality that the Republican party has been unable to offer a candidate since 1960 who could aspire to be the heir to Eisenhower.

In his inaugural address, President Obama told us "the ascent will be steep." He did not lie, but at times during his presidency, I was not sure if we were ascending or descending. Now, President Obama seems to have found his leadership compass. It has been a long way from point A to point B. Too bad we couldn't have started at point B!

Elizabeth Drew describes Obama's mood and state of mind in his final term of office, saying he has reasons to be content. He has "conducted himself throughout his presidency with confidence, dignity, and a sure wit." Most of all, "he hasn’t embarrassed the country. Indeed, there hasn’t been a tone-deaf moment in his two terms in office." No doubt he will be missed. But his critics and opponents don't have the abilities to judge him or refuse to appreciate his acumen, integrity and sense of ethics.
Obama does the right thing that he will "do what he could to ensure that Donald Trump wouldn’t succeed him." The billionaire won the GOP nomination last night in Cleveland, Ohio, a key swing state for both parties, due to its mix of rural white, urban black, and middle-class voters hit by the decline in manufacturing jobs. Trump is a master fear monger and an excellent conspiracy theorist . He instilled fear in his acceptance speech, making many GOP lawmakers in Congress uncomfortable, as their seats are up for grabs in November too. Quite the opposite was Obama's speech in Ohio in 2008, which brought hope and optimism amid the economic crisis. He had a special effect on people, who often weren’t listening too closely to what he was saying, because they loved the way he was saying it - measured, eloquent, informed. He chose hope over fear and used full sentences with verbs.
The author says Obama is backing his former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton since Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race and vowed to endorse her bid for presidency. When Obama took to the stage in North Carolina to offer her his unequivocal backing, pragmatic partnership has replaced the bitterness and distrust between the two former rivals turned allies, which characterised the 2008 presidential campaign. Days after Hillary conceded defeat in the Democratic primaries, she hit the trail to campaign hard for her former rival, following a rancorous campaign that had left them and their aides deeply bruised. Today his legacy and her political future are now tied in ways neither one of them could have foreseen in 2008.
In domestic issues, Obama is not to blame for the dysfunctional Congress, since the GOP seized Senate majority in 2014. Despite horrific shooting incidents he hasn't been able to persuade lawmakers to "pass meaningful gun control measures - owing to implacable opposition from the powerful National Rifle Association and its mostly Republican allies." He is not to blame for racial divisions. When he campaigned in 2007 he promised to unite America and said that race should not matter. He claimed there was "no white America, no black America." But he did rise above America's racial divisions and could appeal to enough white voters to win, because he was - as some said - "every white person's fantasy of what they'd like a black man to be." Obama wrote history and became America's first black president. But Trump couldn't stomach it and still can't today, because he is racist.
On foreign policies, Obama has been criticised for not being tough enough on Assad. On Syria, Hillar Clinton recommended no-fly zones, which Obama opposed. It was a wise decision, because there is no guarantee that the Middle East would be a better place today, had the US embarked on a war against a third Muslim country. He will be remembered for mending ties with Cuba, and ending the nuclear dispute with Iran, But Clinton might take a tougher stance on Tehran's regional ambitions. On trade, she has changed her mind about the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP) championed by him. Should the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and TPP be shelved, it would not spoil Obama's legacy. For the time being, he enjoys his popularity and appreciation, given the "shortcomings of Clinton and Trump - the most disliked presidential candidates in US history."

It is understandable because of your politics that that you laud the current American president but not everyone feels that way as you can attest by reading soem of the replies in your blog.

Personally I believe Obama ranks as one of the worst presidents ever barring Jimmy Carter to sit at the White House. He has left the United States more polarized than everand the world much less safer than any of his predecessesors.

All US Presidents that are standing for election and the one that wins any presidential election must be assigned, 24/7, a team of psychiatrics to help them through the pre and post traumatic experiences of the US Presidency. This hopefully should benefit the world by cushioning any damage that they are likely to do during their tenure in office.

His term isn't quit up yet. With out national security in doubt, violence in the middle east at its worst in the past 8 years and more people in poverty now than before he was president, we'll see how history judges his presidency.

Sadly, the GOP is in such disarray that it seems likely that the Dems will return to the White House. The political climate in the US and the world for that matter is hampering stability in all ares of the world. Intolerance and disrespect for each other have taken the forefront to the point that no one wants to create meaningful dialog toward progress. Tom Friedman thinks the only way out is to put the Democratic Party in charge of the Presidency, both Houses of Congress and an ultimate Liberal Supreme Court.
Stalemate has lead to unprecedented unilateral Presidential actions that have undermined our political system. We should turn to the likes of President Reagan and House Speaker Tip O'Neill to resolve our differences and unite in a common cause that will benefit all. It is called compromise. Ross Douthat says that although the US is perceived as coming apart at the seams ,similar to the 1960's and 70's, we will weather the storm and muddle through. I am not so sure we can afford to waste time while important issues of human rights, world health, climate change and others go unresolved. The welfare and peace of the world must be realized, otherwise there will be no tomorrow for future generations. Whoever is successful in this endeavor most certainly deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Republican "You Lie" class act in the House and Senate have to be given their due: they didn't just try to block Obama's administration -- they largely succeeded. To the country's loss, of course, but the country's benefit hasn't been been high on the GOP priority list for over half a century now.

Sadly, Ms. Clinton will suffer the same fate if she wins the election in November and the voters fail to make down-ticket corrections to the makeup of the House and Senate. Again to the country's detrement.

Ms. Drew,
Almost all presidents enjoy an increase in approval ratings as their presidencies come to an end, in particular during their last few months in office. The only exceptions to this, when looking at the data back to WWII, is Kennedy, whose presidency ended by assassination, and Nixon, whose presidency ended by impeachment. Even Carter got a little pop during his final days in office. Please see the following Gallup historical data: http://www.gallup.com/poll/116677/presidential-approval-ratings-gallup-historical-statistics-trends.aspx

As Obama was basically awarded a Nobel by a grateful committee for not being called Bush (can't see any other reason) can the world expect Clinton to get a gong for not being called Trump or is it only limited to Bush opponents